Wire rope

ABSTRACT

A wire rope includes a rope body having a plurality of strands that are twisted, each strand including a plurality of wires. A gap between the strands of the rope body is filled with a first material that differs from a material that makes up the plurality of wires. The first material is exposed from the gap between the plurality of strands at a surface of the rope body, to define a first-material spiral portion that is spirally formed around an axial line of the rope body is formed at the surface of the rope body.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-059029, filed in the Japan Patent Office on Mar. 17, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The disclosed embodiments relate to a medical device. More specifically, the disclosed embodiments relate to a wire rope.

A wire rope is formed by twisting together a plurality of wires. Such wire rope is used in, for example, a guide wire used at medical sites. More specifically, various guide wires that are used at medical sites and whose visibility during use is increased are disclosed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-17864 (Patent Document 1)).

SUMMARY

However, a wire rope is not easily applicable to the structure described in Patent Document 1. That is, since the wire rope is formed by twisting a plurality of strands including a plurality of wires, a surface of the wire rope has a fine and complex uneven structure. Therefore, it is very troublesome and cumbersome to apply a color to the surface of the wire rope along the wires and to form a visual recognition marker, thereby increasing overall manufacturing costs.

In addition, although, in general, the characteristics of the entire wire rope are determined by, for example, winding conditions and characteristics of the wires making up the wire rope, the determination is not limited thereto. There is a demand for adding various characteristics to the wire rope by a simple method.

Accordingly, in view of such problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a wire rope to which various characteristics can be easily added and a wire rope that provides excellent functionality. It is also an object of the present invention to provide, for example, a structure that allows different colors to be spirally formed on the surface of the wire rope using a simple method that increases visibility.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wire rope including a rope body having a plurality of strands that are twisted, each strand including a plurality of wires. A gap between the strands of the rope body is filled with a different material differing from a material of the wires. The different material is exposed from the gap between the strands at a surface of the rope body, so that a first-material spiral portion that is spirally formed around an axial line of the rope body is formed at the surface of the rope body.

The disclosed embodiments make it possible to easily add various characteristics to a wire rope using a simple method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an external view of a wire rope.

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the wire rope.

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a wire rope having a different form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A wire rope according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a wire rope 1 includes a rope body 1A which is formed by twisting a plurality of strands 2. In one embodiment, the plurality of strands 2 may include, for example, seven strands. However, the number of strands 2 is not limited to seven. Each strand 2 is formed by twisting a plurality of wires 3 formed of a metallic material. In one embodiment, the plurality of wires 3 may include, for example, seven wires. However, the number of wires 3 is not limited to 7. The wires 3 may be hollow.

Preferably, a diameter of the wire rope 1 is set to from about 0.3 to about 1.5 mm. In the case of the wire rope having the diameter of about 0.3 mm, a wire diameter of each strand is preferably set to from about 0.02 to about 0.04 mm. In the case of the wire rope having the diameter of about 1.5 mm, a wire diameter of each strand is preferably set to from about 0.15 to about 0.17 mm.

Gaps between the strands 2 of the rope body 1A are filled with resinous material. By exposing the resinous material from the gaps between the strands 2 at a surface of the rope body 1A, a resinous-material spiral portion (first-material spiral portion) 10A is spirally formed at the surface of the rope body 1A around an axial line of the rope body 1A. The surface of the resinous-material spiral portion 10A is positioned inwardly of an outer periphery formed by the strands 2 that are positioned at an outermost periphery among the strands 2 of the rope body 1A.

For example, pigments or coloring agents are added to the resinous material of the resinous-material spiral portion 10A, so that the color of the resinous-material spiral portion 10A differs from the color of the surfaces of the wires 3. This causes spirally formed colored portions that enhance visibility in a twisting direction of the strands 2 on the surface of the wire rope 1.

For example, when twisting together the plurality of strands 2, the gaps between the strands 2 may be filled with softened resin that is later cooled to manufacture the wire rope 1; or softened resin may be poured into the gaps between the twisted strands to manufacture the wire rope 1.

By virtue of the above-described structure, it is possible to easily manufacture the wire rope 1 including the resinous-material spiral portion 10A, and to spirally form colored portions having excellent visibility in the twisting direction on the rope body 1A having a complex uneven surface. The resinous material is desirably thermoplastic resin, which is selectable from, for example, vinyl resin, polystyrene resin, polyethylene resin, acrylic resin, polyamide resin, nylon resin, and fluororesin. The resinous material may also be any of various rubber materials, such as styrene-butadiene rubber or polyisoprene rubber.

As shown in FIG. 3, in a modified embodiment, a surface of a protruding resinous-material spiral portion 10B, which protrudes outward, can be provided such that the protruding surface is positioned outwardly of the outer periphery formed by the strands 2 that are positioned at an outermost periphery among the plurality of strands 2 of the rope body 1A. By such a structure, the protruding resinous-material spiral portion 10B can prevent damage to the surfaces of wires 3 when the wire rope 1 contacts another object.

In the wire rope 1, the friction resistance of the surface of the resinous-material spiral portion 10A and the friction resistance of the surface of the protruding resinous-material spiral portion 10B may differ from the friction resistance of the surfaces of the wires 3. By forming the resinous-material spiral portion 10A, or the protruding resinous-material spiral portion 10B out of, for example, thermoplastic elastomer with respect to the metallic wires 3, it is possible to cause the friction resistance of the surface of the wire rope 1 to be greater than that of a wire rope that is only formed of metallic wires 3. In addition, by forming the resinous-material spiral portion 10A or the protruding resinous-material spiral portion 10B out of, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene, it is possible to reduce the friction resistance of the surface of the wire rope 1.

The number of embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications. Thus, design changes and various combinations may be made as appropriate. For example, when the wire rope 1 is to exhibit heat resistance performance, mechanical performance, molding performance, electric performance, chemical performance, or chemical resistance performance, it is possible to select a desired resinous material as appropriate to form the resinous-material spiral portion 10A or the protruding resinous-material spiral portion 10B. For example, pigments, dyes, anti-oxidizing agents, antistatic agents, crystallization accelerating agents, flame retardants, flame-proofing agents, water repellents, oil repellents, insecticides, antiseptics, waxes, surface-active agents, lubricants, age resistors, ultraviolet absorbers, or plasticizers may be added to or mixed with the resinous material. Alternatively, the resinous material may be formed of only one type of material or may be a combination of two or more types of materials.

The above-described wire rope 1 can be suitably used, in particular, as a guide wire in the medical field. 

1. A wire rope comprising: a rope body having a plurality of strands that are twisted, each strand including a plurality of wires, wherein a gap between the plurality of strands is filled with a first material that differs from a material that makes up the plurality of wires, and the first material is exposed at the gap between the plurality of strands at a surface of the rope body, to define a first-material spiral portion that is spirally formed around an axial line of the rope body at the surface of the rope body.
 2. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein a color of the first material differs from a color of a surface of each wire.
 3. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein a friction resistance of a surface of the first-material spiral portion differs from a friction resistance of a surface of each wire.
 4. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of wires is hollow.
 5. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein an outermost periphery of the rope body is defined by the plurality of strands.
 6. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein an outermost periphery of the rope body is defined by the first-material spiral portion.
 7. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material is a thermoplastic resin.
 8. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material is selected from the group consisting of vinyl resin, polystyrene resin, polyethylene resin, acrylic resin, polyamide resin, nylon resin, and fluororesin.
 9. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material is a rubber material.
 10. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material is selected from the group consisting of styrene-butadiene rubber and polyisoprene rubber.
 11. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material is a thermoplastic elastomer.
 12. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material is polytetrafluoroethylene.
 13. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material includes a single compound.
 14. The wire rope according to claim 1, wherein the first material includes at least two compounds.
 15. The wire rope according to claim 13, wherein the single compound is selected from the group consisting of a pigment, a dye, an anti-oxidizing agent, an antistatic agent, a crystallization accelerating agent, a flame retardant, a flame-proofing agent, a water repellent, an oil repellent, an insecticide, an antiseptic, a wax, a surface-active agent, a lubricant, an age resistor and an ultraviolet absorber.
 16. The wire rope according to claim 14, wherein at least one of the at least two compounds is selected from the group consisting of a pigment, a dye, an anti-oxidizing agent, an antistatic agent, a crystallization accelerating agent, a flame retardant, a flame-proofing agent, a water repellent, an oil repellent, an insecticide, an antiseptic, a wax, a surface-active agent, a lubricant, an age resistor and an ultraviolet absorber.
 17. A wire rope comprising: a plurality of wire strands that are spirally formed, each wire strand being separated by a space that defines a spirally extending gap around an axial line of the wire rope; and a spiral portion that is formed in the spirally extending gap, wherein a material making up the spiral portion differs from a material making up the plurality of wire strands.
 18. The wire rope according to claim 17, wherein an outermost periphery of the wire rope is defined by either the plurality of wire strands, or the spiral portion.
 19. A wire rope comprising: a plurality of wire strands that are spirally formed, each wire strand being separated by a space that defines a spirally extending gap around an axial line of the wire rope; and a spiral portion that is formed in the spirally extending gap, wherein an outermost periphery of the wire rope is defined by either the plurality of wire strands, or the spiral portion.
 20. The wire rope according to claim 19, wherein a material making up the spiral portion differs from a material making up the plurality of wire strands. 